Cleveland school board votes to trim teaching staff for next year

Joshua Gunter, The Plain DealerKimili Gulley, a Collinwood High School math teacher for nine years, cries as she shares her frustration about being laid off during the school board meeting Tuesday.

Correction: This story incorrectly reporter the number of teaching positions the Cleveland School District will eliminate in the fall. The district will lay off more than 500 at the end of this school year and plans to have more than 200 take a retirement incentive, bringing the total reduction to around 700. The 508 teaching positions will be cut mostly from kindergarten through eighth grade, but less-experienced high school teachers are included in the layoffs because more-experienced elementary teachers also certified for high school can claim those jobs.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland school board voted Tuesday to trim about a sixth of its teaching staff in the upcoming school year because of budget troubles and a falling number of students.

The district will also shorten its school day through eighth grade by 50 minutes next schoolyear and cut the number of music, art, library and gym classes for those students as part of the shuffling of staff to handle the layoffs.

The lay off of more than 500 teachers --most in kindergarten through eighth grade -- is a major part of district Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon's plan to resolve a $65 million budget deficit for next school year. The layoffs are expected to cover about $33 million of the $65 million. The district originally had projected saving $40 million, but that number was reduced because officials decided to lay off fewer teachers.

Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke called the cuts "devastating." He criticized the board for trying to solve budget issues by cutting teachers, rather than by seeking a tax increase or pushing the state for more money.

"We must have an end to the perpetual cycle of layoffs," Quolke said.

Other teachers told the board that cutting arts programs will prompt students to leave the district and that being laid off destroys their dreams of helping children.

Gordon anticipated that parents would be upset about a shorter school day for their children, which could affect child care and transportation arrangements. The district sent a letter about the change home with students and made automated calls to each home, but Gordon said parents have raised little objection.

He said his goal was to avoid cuts that parents complain about most -- closing schools, raising class sizes or reducing sports and extracurricular activities.

Gordon had anticipated cutting 600 teachers and 50 staff members two weeks ago but reduced that to 508 teachers and 57 staff members on Tuesday night. Many of the teachers will be in music, art, library and gym since those classes will be cut.

But he cautioned teachers and parents not to expect more than a handful to be brought back over the summer, not the large teacher recalls that have happened in the past. Gordon said the "yo-yo" pattern of layoffs and callbacks from the past can't keep happening -- with one important exception.

Of the508 teachers laid off Tuesday to meet contractual deadlines, the districthopes to recall some (A previous version of this story gave an incorrect number) early next month after teachers who qualify take a retirement incentive. The district has offered a cash bonus of 35 percent of a year's pay for eligible teachers to retire.

Gordon said two weeks ago that he needed at least 232 of the 900 teachers eligible to retire under state rules to take that offer by May 4. As of Tuesday, 200 had applied for it, he said.

Between the layoffs, retirements and recalls, Gordon said, the teaching staff for the following yearwill be reduced by 700 (A previous version of this story included an incorrect number.) by the end of next month.

He warned that ongoing pay negotiations with the Cleveland Teachers Union for next school year might make more cuts necessary. Administrators and other unions have agreed to 5.6 percent to 6 percent pay cuts for next year, but while the CTU agreed to pay cuts for this school year, there was no agreement for next year.

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